IPI hosts former British Premier

Manama, Mar. 1 (BNA): The International Peace Institute for the Middle East and North Africa (IPI-MENA) hosted former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who delivered a lecture themed "The Middle East, Opportunities and Challenges". Officials, diplomats accredited to the Kingdom of Bahrain, experts, specialists and media figures attended. They commended the pioneering reforms initiated by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa for his people and the cause of peace in the region. They stressed the importance of the Manama-based IPI-Mena branch and said that the international think tank found in Bahrain favourable conditions to exercise its role in advocating dispute settlement and promoting multilateral preventive diplomacy to achieve peace in the Middle East. Moderated by IPI-MENA director Nejib Frigi, the discussions affirmed the central importance of the Palestinian cause in the Middle East, stressing the need to achieve comprehensive, just and lasting peace and renouncing sectarianism.